The twins were drop-dead gorgeous, which apparently came with its own set of problems that were remarkably similar to mine.
It was tough to sift out real friends from hangers on who wanted something.
“Well, it’s over now, but if you could go back as someone else, how bad would you want to be?” I asked the group.
Sam took no time to come up with an answer, as if he’d already given a lot of thought to the question. “Oh jeez, I’d not do any homework, skip school a lot, and be kicked out of every class for swearing at the teachers.” He laughed.
“You would not,” Kelly snapped back. “That would make you a different person altogether, and you aren’t like that. I’ve never even heard you swear.”
“Fiddlesticks, Kelly. Don’t make me out to be all prim and proper.”
Fiddlesticks.
Prim and proper.
That wasn’t Sam, or not exactly. Giggling hard, I practically spat out my beer, and some of it somehow got up my nose and made me snort.
And then Ryan laughed too, it stated with a chuckle but exploded into a full on giggling fit either with me or at me, I wasn’t sure which, and it didn’t matter.
“Don’t you believe Sam’s a good golden boy,” he said. “It’s just he’s good at not getting caught,” he added with an intriguing wink, which only made me wonder what naughty things those twins did that we girls didn’t know about.
“In school, you two were good boys because that’s who you are.” Kelly suddenly turned to give me a hard stare: “Grace, you’ve barely drunk any of your beer.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a word for how bad it tastes.” To show my disgust, I wrinkled up my nose and possibly my whole face.
The beer tasted awful, but given we were all eighteen, it had the flavor of forbidden fruit and maturity, which was the only thing it had going for it. Beer was pretty awful, and I couldn’t understand its popularity. I reckoned the buys gulped it down to get the horrendous flavor past their mouths quicker.
“And getting drunk doesn’t go with swimming, that’s if we plan on doing more,” I added.
One of the phones buzzed on the table where we’d left them. They were a little out of arm’s reach, and we all ignored the incoming message.
“Forget about more swimming.” She giggled and ran her fingers through her long damp hair. “You gotta drink. It’ll help you act more like a woman.”
I raised one eyebrow. “I doubt my womanhood is dependent on me getting drunk.”
“You’re no fun at all sometimes,” she snapped back.
“Not true.” Ryan protested and stepped a bit nearer as he came to my defense. “Grace is bags o’ fun. We wouldn’t hang out with her if she wasn’t.” He put his drink down on the poolside and began to massage my shoulders with his large hands. They felt warm, firm, and extremely pleasant.
“Hey, girls, fun doesn’t have to involve being the naughty kids in school or drunken swimming.” Sam, ever the peacemaker, had to get in on the discussion too. “Okay?”
That both of the boys had stood up for me right then surprised me, because I was sure most kids in our school—ex-school—would have agreed with Kelly.
I stuck to the rules and didn’t stand out in any way. Grace was not a fun, memorable school girl, and the kids would probably forget me once our paths no longer crossed.
And then the phone buzzed again, interrupting our brewing argument.
Sam pulled himself to his feet. “I’ll get it.” He sauntered over to the phone table, picked up Kelly’s cell, and brought it to the side of the pool along with a towel.
Kelly wiped her hands thoroughly before taking the phone and staring at the screen. “Oh... oh damn.” She looked at us with dismay. “I’m sorry, guys, but I gotta put the rest of the party, or whatever, on hold and bolt home. Apparently, my little sister needs some eyes on her, and my father doesn’t understand that this is supposed to be the once in a lifetime, end of an era thing. Ugh.”
“Really?” I frowned in disbelief. We’d just graduated high school, which made this the biggest event in our lives ever—at least, so far. Her father had no sense of perspective.
“Yes. It’s the worst timing, but you all know how it is.” She placed her half-empty beer bottle on the poolside and glanced at me with a sad face and a shrug before pulling herself out of the pool.
Climbing out after her and wrapping myself in a big towel, I quickly followed her into the poolroom.
“You don’t have to leave too,” she said as she changed into her clothes at incredible speed.
“Oh, I know. I intend to stay,” I said. “I’ve nothing else to do. Unless you want me to come home with you and babysit.”